Martin Pepper spoke of his pride after Barnard Castle came close to upsetting the form book in the Daily Mail Schools Under-18 Cup Final at Twickenham.

Barney lost 30-28 to Oakham, who retained the cup but the holders knew they had been in game as the Durham side twice fought back into contention and eventually won thanks to a hat-trick of tries from Joe Wheeler, the son of former England hooker Peter Wheeler.

"I thought Oakham were more streetwise and effective around the breakdowns," said Pepper, who has coached Barnard Castle to 20 wins in 21 games this season.

"We never really got phases of play together but having said that, I think we gave them a bit of a shock. We have played 21 games this season and won 20 and have only lost by two points in a Twickenham final so I am very proud of what the boys have achieved."

And young Wheeler paid tribute to the boys from Barney after he'd received the cup. "Barnard Castle would not lie down and they gave us the hardest game we experienced in two years. They were tremendous opponents."

Barnard Castle were unbeaten before the final scoring 697 points and conceding just 128 in their 20 victories while Oakham had 15 wins out of 15, scoring 624 points and conceding 89 before the final.

Wheeler, playing only his third game back after a knee injury, scored in the 20th, 26th and 36th minutes.